Providing good feedback does not occur naturally or by default. To provide effective feedback, leaders must learn, develop, and cultivate fundamental skills. Organizations that do not address these fundamental skills risk creating an environment where people fail to observe, reflect and self-correct their behavior.

In 1998, Fast Company wrote an article on employee feedback and over ten years ago managers faced the same problems:

Too many leaders still treat feedback as a once-a-year event, rather than an ongoing discipline. “Doing annual appraisals is like dieting only on your birthday and wondering why you’re not losing weight,” cracks Saunier. Too many leaders confuse feedback with paperwork. “Filling out a form is inspection, not feedback,” says Kelly Allan, senior associate of Kelly Allan Associates Ltd., a consulting firm based in Columbus, Ohio whose clients have included Boeing, Paramount Pictures, and IBM. “History has taught us that relying on inspections is costly, improves nothing for very long, and makes the organization less competitive.”

Working from home is more prevalent and more widely accepted than ever. With 26.2 million teleworkers in the U.S. in 2010, the virtual workforce is expected to grow in coming years.

In a survey of senior leaders and hiring managers of Fortune 500 companies with at least 5,000 employees, more than half believe the virtual workforce will steadily or greatly increase at their company (see more amazing stats on this Teleworking infographic). If you are part of the teleworkforce, there are things you need to know to succeed. The free webinar is called Three Secrets to Turning Your Office into The Anywhere Office.

Business as usual no longer involves working in a centralized office at set times. Whether you’re a freelancer, entrepreneur, telecommuter or remote worker, modern workflow is far more dynamic and individual. There are Read More »

In an economy that is struggling to recover, looking for a job can be challenging – even if you already have one. Many of those jobs involve managing people which puts you in the hot seat not just for your performance, but also for how well your team performs. If this is your first time, you’ll need help.

Then Ken Blanchard Group delivers some of the best management advice in the world. They understand stepping into the role of a new manager—or taking on a new group of people is a challenge for even the most seasoned of professionals.

Making the move from an individual contributor to supervising the work of others brings a whole host of new challenges. As a new manager, it can be a confusing time Read More »

This week the U.S. celebrated Labor Day, a holiday that, according to Wikipedia, celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers. To my mind, that translates to productivity. But interestingly, on the holiday that marks the end of summer, I came across this interesting piece: “Hey, America: Take a Vacation!”

The takeaway: compared to other countries around the globe, Americans not only get less vacation time from their employers, they don’t even use up all their allowances. And yet, as CNN Reporter Fareed Zakariah notes, “America’s growth historically has been fueled mostly by investment, education, productivity, innovation and immigration. The one thing that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with America’s new growth is a brutal work schedule.” It really makes you pause.

So this leads me to a series of What Ifs: What if, instead of logging the extreme hours that we do, we used that time to revitalize ourselves—to become more productive in our family relationships; to explore hobbies or creative interests that train our brains to work in new ways; to pursue volunteer opportunities that can contribute to the betterment of others. What if we took time to do things that truly brought us together as fellow citizens to help build stronger communities?

You don’t have to be a bad manager! We have some of the best and brightest – including Ken Blanchard – who have created some terrific WebEx sessions for us on the essentials of good management. These are available to watch at any time, simply click and Read More »

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